London schoolboy, 8, takes knife to class and holds it to student's throat before writing apology letter

A schoolboy who brought a knife to class and held it to a fellow pupil’s throat wrote an apology to the student he threatened
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The shocking extent of London’s knife crime epidemic was laid bare today as it emerged an eight-year-old schoolboy penned an apology letter to his classmate for holding a knife to his throat.

The school, in Camden, north London, failed to alert authorities of the incident after it unfolded on its premises, it has been claimed.

In the note, the Year Four pupil apologises for threatening to “cut” his classmate and said he hoped the letter would make them feel “less scared”.

The letter read: “I am so sorry for what I did yesterday and if I was you I would feel very scared. I should never say that I am going to cut you and I should not have taken the pocket knife from [the teacher’s] desk in the first place.

“I hope you feel better and a bit less scared.”

The pupil apologises for threatening to “cut” his classmate

It is understood that the blade was brought to school by the pupil and that it was confiscated but then the child got it back out of the teacher's drawer.

Camden councillor Leila Roy, who showed the letter to a council meeting on Monday, said it demonstrated the borough's problem with knife crime as she urged for more to be done to prevent youngsters from picking up blades.

She said the headteacher of the school, which has not been named, failed to report the incident to the police or the local authority.

The horrifying note emerged amid a stabbing epidemic in the capital, with figures revealing that violent deaths have doubled in the first three months of this year.

The scene in Hounslow after the body of a man was found dead inside a hotel
Nigel Howard

In a horrific week of knife crime in London, from March 14, five people were stabbed to death in the space of seven days. All of the victims were men and half of them aged 23 or younger.

It also comes after two young men, Abdikarim Hassan, 17, and Sadiq Aadam Mohamed, 20, were stabbed to death within hours of each other in Camden on February 20.

Cllr Roy told the Standard: “I read that letter in Full Council because I think the problem we already have [with knife crime in Camden] is something that needs to be resolved quickly.

“It [the letter] is a demonstration of how much more needs to be done in terms of early intervention in schools. At eight years old we can help them, and stop them before it’s too late. But that is not happening.”

As London continues to be plagued by an epidemic of violent crime, figures revealed that a total of 26 people have been fatally stabbed or shot since the start of 2018.

This amounts to one every 3.2 days and is double the number killed between January 1 and March 23 last year.

But scores more victims have been left with serious injuries or are still fighting for their life in hospital in connection with other stabbings and shootings, meaning the death toll could still creep higher.

Following a wave of stabbings in February, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he was "desperately saddened" by the killings and his team "are doing everything we can from City Hall to tackle the scourge of knife crime".

He added: “However, knife crime is rising across the UK, not just here in London – this is a national problem that requires national solutions. Londoners need the Government’s help if we are to beat it.”

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